Saturday, December 15, 2012, from 1pm-4pm at the Vancouver YMCA located at 11324 NE 51st Circle (corner of SR-500 & 112th/Gher Road). Remember....with reservation...we will throw in lunch, or dinner! :-) ...we also have other class dates/times...check out the website

Please go to www.learningtobuyahome.com, or www.traciedemars.com for information on ALL upcoming Free Community Home Buyer Classes. I do keep all updated information, and directions there... I would love to hear from you about when you might like to see the classes. These classes are for you, so please, I love your comments and feedback!! :-) ***

Happy Sunday~

What a lovely, wet day! :-) We didn't do ANYTHING today, but layed around, watched TV, and spent time together as a family. That is why you will be receiving this email Monday morning instead. We don't always get to do this as my family is so busy. I know...we are always so busy...all of us. Sometimes we just need to lay low and relax...it was a good day. :-)

So, in the home buyers class this week I had a couple of good questions come up. One of the questions was about mortgage payments, and how that worked. So, perfect timing! :-) This is a lot of information so I am going to break it up into two emails for this week and next.

Mortgage Payments (Part One)

There are four parts to your mortgage payment, and this is called, P.I.T.I.Principal - the amount that you pay on the principal amount borrowed every month.Interest - the amount that goes toward the interest that the bank charges you for the amount you borrowed.Taxes- the amount that goes toward your escrow account to pay your taxes. More on taxes later...Insurance - the amount that goes toward your escrow account to pay your homeowners insurance.

(Mortgage Insurance is a fifth component to your payment. This will be an upcoming blog....)

The Principal and Interest part of your mortgage actually stays the same, but how it is split changes through the life of your loan. In the beginning of your loan you will pay more interest than principal, but as the loan matures, that will change until you pay more in principal and less in interest at the end of your loan. Now, you have every right to pay extra on your principal loan amount whenever you want. I always put extra money toward my principal loan amount every month when I pay my mortgage. This will decrease the length of my loan, and the amount of interest I actually end up paying.

The Taxes and Insurance part of your mortgage can, and will change though. As your home increases in value the tax assessed value of it will also increase, which will increase the amount of your yearly taxes, which then will increase your insurance amount. You always want to make sure that, as your home increases in value, you are talking with your home owners insurance agent to make sure you have enough insurance on it. Your home owners insurance protects you in case of a fire, or an event that is outside of your "care, custody, and control". It is like having insurance on your car in case of loss.

Every year you will receive a letter from your escrow account letting you know where you stand regarding the amount you are paying towards your escrow account for your taxes and insurance. Sometimes you have too much and you get a check....but don't be too excited because if this happens it means that your home is losing value, and we don't want that. Usually you are going to get a notice that your home has increased in value so that you need to put more money into your escrow account. You have two options of doing this....one by writing a check to your escrow account one time (in which case your payments will now be X amount of dollars), or you can choose to do it monthly (in which case your payments will now be X amount of dollars). All of this information will be in that letter, but again....if you have questions, please feel free to call your agent! Yes....I know you already bought the home, but remember that we are here to help you....for the long haul!! :-D

When your agent is initially talking with your lender, one of the questions s/he should ask your lender is what tax dollar amount the lender used for your pre-approval. This is important because if you are looking at a home with a higher tax amount then you are actually pre-approved for LESS....for the same mortgage payment, but if you are looking at a home, or area with lower taxes, then you are approved for MORE...with the same mortgage payment.

Typically your homeowners insurance should run about, or around $500 a year. Of course, this also depends on if you need flood insurance which will raise this amount. One thing that every home owner should think about is earthquake insurance. Earthquake insurance is not required, but did you know that we live in the area that is #1 at risk for a very large earthquake in the near future??? Earthquake insurance is not part of your regular home insurance anymore because of this. It's crazy....when I bought my home about 11 years ago, earthquake insurance was part of my regular homeowners insurance, but now, because of this risk, it no longer is, and must be purchased separately. As a pre-caution, I urge you to consider this. You don't have to do it right now as you are in the process of buying your home, but once you move in, contact your homeowners insurance agent and talk to them about earthquake insurance, and if you have dogs, a trampoline, kids, a pool, etc...ask also about an umbrella insurance policy to cover those things that your regular homeowners insurance might not....just to be on the safe side... as you know...these classes, and this blog is all about CYA!!! :-D

Enjoy the weather, and I look forward to talking with you soon and helping you to find a great home!!! Thank you for your referrals as well....I couldn't do this without you! ;-)

Hope this helps....as always, give me a ring, text, email, or facebook me if you have any further questions!

Please call, email, text, or even facebook me (at Tracie DeMars Real Estate) anytime with any questions, or if there is anything I can do to assist you with your home buying adventure! As your buyers agent, I am, as always, here to help!! :-D

Thank you again for your business and for your referrals!

...as always...if you have already purchased a home, or no longer would like to receive these emails from me, please let me know and I will be happy to remove you from receiving any more.

Thank you again for attending the home buyer education classes, and I hope that you will continue to refer the classes out to your friends, family, and co-workers. Upcoming class dates and times are located at www.freehomebuyerclasses.com. Just click on the link on the left hand side. Or you can go to www.learningtobuyahome.com and click the links.

We appreciate your referrals and word of mouth! Also, if you have somewhere that we can place the flyers at, please let me know....:-D

*****Remember that if you are interested I can, and will be happy to, set you up on an email that will automatically email you with new home listings in your area and price range as they come up on the market. This email will include all bank owned homes and anything with price changes. Just send me what you are hoping to find, your top 3 things in a home, and what is the best email to send it to. This is with no obligation, and is a good way to 'window shop'. :-)

With your advice and financial means, many people bought real estate :)

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Tracie DeMarsreal estate broker with Re/Max

I have been in real estate for about 15 years now, and I have seen the market up, down, and now going up again. I teach the Clark County Free Community Classes for Home Buyers & Home Sellers to help buyers learn about the loan, and home buying process; and sellers to learn about the paperwork and process of selling a home. We are volunteers, and have no affiliations so we are able to tell it like it is...with no sugarcoating. The pros, the cons, we tell it all in a fun, engaging, direct manner that encourages class attendee interaction and involvement. Classes are free and non-promotional and held at community locations. Walk -ins are welcome and all are invited. ​Whether you're buying or selling a home, Education should always be your first step! **we now offer Home SELLER classes too, by reservation. It is a sellers market out there, and the classes are designed to go over all the paperwork, the 'right' questions to ask, how to make sure your agent is really working for you, what a CMA (comparable market analysis) is, and what is considered a comparable home....and going over the settlement statement. What are the fees? What are you going to net???